Stadium High School - Tahoma Yearbook (Tacoma, WA)

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28 THE TAI-IOMA The lnventofs Safe SANFORD MARTIN The tall lnspector stood staring fixedly at the body as it half sprawled on the desk, where it had relaxed when its life was snuffed out. ln the side of the head was the hole of a thirty- eight caliber bullet, but from where it had come no one could tell. The other detective examined for the third time the locks on the four windows of the laboratory and workshop, but with little satisfaction. That they had been locked from the inside could not be doubt-ed and probably by the inventor himself as he prepared to work on the plans of a new invention. Finally the Inspector spoke. Pro- fessor Girardf' he said, was shot from inside this room, but how the murderer escaped, heaving the win- dows and doors locked on the inside, seems an unsolvable mystery. The other detective said nothing, but con- tinued his examination. The jani- tor, the Inspector went on, said posi- tively that there was a key in the lock which he had to push out before he could unlock the door, which means that the door also was locked from the insidef, That morning Prof. N. E. Girard, the inventor, had been found dead by the janitor of the office building. On going to the inventor's iaboratory to perform his duties he had noticed the light burning, an uncommon occurrence so early in the morning. Receiving no response to his knock he had let himself in with his pass key. The professor's assistant, Frank Nichols, was known to be out of the city on business, but he was practically known to have no connection with the pro- fessor's death, because of the intimate relations between the two. Inspector Furnow aroused himself from his deep thought and took a general survey of the room. At the far end was a work table stretching the width of the room and above which were numerous rows of shelves lined with unlimited chemical and elec- trical apparatus. At the opposite end was the inventor's desk, at which he now lay just as he had fallen. Across from the desk on the side of the room was a safe, not a large one, raised on a pedestal so as to be reached more conveniently. This practically com- pleted the furnishings besides a few pieces of small machinery. here and there. A second door led to an ad- joining room frommthe end where the desk was, but this was locked and the key still in it. The Inspector stepped to the desk, emptied the waste basket on the floor and carefully sorted over the contents. There was nothing but a few pieces of crumpled paper. One of these he smoothed out. It was a telegram dated the day before and read, Will return at eleven-thirty Wednesday. Nichols. - The Inspector looked at his watch. It was a quarter to eleven. ln three- quarters of an hour Nichols would be there and throw what light he could, if any, on the mystery. The detective again went over the case from the beginning. The light had been found burningg the doors and windows all locked from the inside, no signs of a scuffle: no weapon found in the roomg and no place could be found where a bullet could have en-

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THE TAHOMA 27 The frail form on the bed stirred, and a faint smile curved the thin, pale lips. A whisper hardly more than a breath said, Pan, you have come back at lastg dear Pan, you are so gooclf, i The crisis passedg soon the Boy began to grow in strength of body and minclg but always, even to manhood, he had a listening attitude, as if always waiting to hear again the pipes oi Pan. ff, v, , f to f Q55 24-NN ui JMX Rf MXSQYXIII ff WKTTTLIH W A G51 f- 55-angie FN 5 S10L3iiTfTiiiTTTJR :N 1 E Eli? 75-4?-ieiff K

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TI-IE. TAI-IOMA 29 tered the room. He sat in a chair motionless, with his eyes closed, turn- ing the matter over and over in his mind. Finally he heard a step out- side the door. l-le hastened across the room and opened it. A man of apparently twenty-five stepped in. He wore a surprised look on his strong, handsome face. Ir was a rare thing that anyone besides him or the professor was ever in the laboratory. Mr. Frank Nichols? asked the Inspector, 'as he eyed him closely. Yes, but what-Q? With a shock he saw the body of the profes- sor. The Inspector explained the cir- cumstances of his death so far as he knew them. Nichols listened atten- tively until the detective had finished. Then he walked quickly to the safe, and examined closely with a pocket lense a small hole above and to one side of the dial. Yes, just as I thought! he ex- claimed. I often warned him, for I knew it would happen some time, but I never dreamed it would -. prove fatalf' The Inspector was mystihed, but Nichols continued: I can't open this safe, but I can explain how this happened. The two detectives moved nearer to get every rx IMI N part of the explanation. This safe contains a burglar alarm that Prof. Girard invented himself. In this hole dir-ectly above the dial is a piece of selenium. This is a metal well-known to science. While there is light on it it is an electrical conductor. With no light ray on it it becomes a non- conductor. This piece of the metal is connected with a cell in such a way that when a burglar's lamp or any other light is flashed on it a re- volver is fired through this other hole. There is also a clock work which disconnects the current at live in the morning and connects it at ten at night so it will not go off in the day- light. You will observe tha.t the pro- fessor's chair is directly opposite the safe and when he was sitting up his head was on a level with it. He was working on an invention which he hoped to Hnish soon and was work- ing at night on it. Last night prob- ably he became so absorbed in it he forgot the time. At ten o'clock the current in the safe was switched on and as the light was shining on the selenium cells the revolver was dis- charged. It was mere fate that the professor was sitting in the path of the bullet. He probably never knew what happened. MYISSLLIJ CX A 7 x' . ', ,IQ , ? i ' fu